Purpose :
Controversy exists as to whether laser retinopexy or cryoretinopexy for the treatment of retinal breaks predisposes to an increased incidence of epiretinal membrane (ERM) formation. Only one limited case series in the literature explores this issue which contributes to the lack of consensus. The purpose of this retrospective chart review was to explore the rate of epiretinal membrane formation following treatment of retinal breaks with laser retinopexy as compared to cryoretinopexy.

Methods :
Charts of patients with and without the diagnosis of Macular Puckering (ICD-9 362.56) undergoing procedures for CPT codes 67141 (prophylaxis of retinal detachment, cryotherapy) and 67145 (prophylaxis of retinal detachment, photocoagulation) at a busy vitreoretinal surgery practice from January 2010 to August 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Charts with at least 3 months of follow-up were reviewed to confirm the development of ERM following treatment for retinal breaks. The two-tailed student’s t-test and chi-squared test were used for statistical analysis.

Results :
A total of 2,257 eyes undergoing laser retinopexy (1655 eyes) and cryoretinopexy (602 eyes) were identified. After excluding patients who had pre-existing ERM, uveitis, retinal vascular occlusion, and previous intraocular surgery (except for cataract surgery), a total of 26 cryoretinopexy eyes (4.32%) and 48 laser retinopexy eyes (2.90%) had developed ERM after treatment of retinal breaks (p=0.094). The average time for ERM development after treatment was 11.5 months in the cryoretinopexy group and 12 months in the laser retinopexy group (p=0.878). There was no significant difference between the cryoretinopexy and laser retinopexy groups in progression to surgical management of the formed ERM (p=0.707).

Conclusions :
In the treatment of retinal breaks with either cryoretinopexy or laser retinopexy, there is no statistically significant difference in the rate, timing, or severity of epiretinal membrane formation between these treatment modalities.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.